White House Pushing Cuba on Deals for GE, Google

By Carol E. Lee and Felicia Schwartz

WASHINGTON — General Electric and Google are among firms U.S. officials believe will secure agreements to operate in Cuba as the Obama administration presses Havana to complete pending deals before Donald Trump takes office, according to people familiar with the discussions.

In addition, three U.S. cruise lines are expected to announce deals to start service to Cuba, including Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean and Pearl Seas Cruises.

The new business agreements are expected to be announced over the next few weeks, those familiar with the discussions said. For the White House, which ramped up an effort before the election to prod Havana, the deals are aimed at cementing President Barack Obama’s policy of advancing U.S.-Cuba relations.

White House officials are unsure how Mr. Trump, the president-elect, will approach Mr. Obama’s Cuba policy. He has said he would reverse the effort to build relations, and this week wrote on Twitter that “if Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate the deal.”

While there is no formal deal between the U.S. and Cuba that can be undone, there has been a broad effort to expand economic, trade and cultural ties between the two countries since Mr. Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced in December 2014 that they would re-establish diplomatic relations.

Asked about the possible agreement, a GE spokesman said: “We continue to talk to Cuba and we’re in the middle of negotiations.”

A Norwegian Cruise Line spokeswoman, Vanessa Picariello, said the firm is “in continued talks with appropriate authorities in Cuba on behalf of all three of its brands: Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.”

She added: “We remain optimistic that we will receive approval for one or more of our brands and be able to offer our guests Caribbean cruises including Cuba in the near future.”

Charles B. Robertson, Pearl Seas Cruises’ director of marketing, said: “We are very excited and optimistic about the prospect of going to Cuba and we have a number of trips planned in 2017 that we hope to be able to run.”

Officials from Google and Royal Caribbean didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Write to Carol E. Lee at carol.lee@wsj.com and Felicia Schwartz at Felicia.Schwartz@wsj.com

Breaking the story

Carol E. Lee and Felicia Schwartz were first to report that General Electric and Google might soon announce deals to do business in Cuba. The White House ramped up efforts before the elections for the companies and Cuba to secure deals before the new administration. Additionally, there are three U.S. cruise lines that are expected to announce agreements to start service to Cuba, according to sources. The announcements are expected over the coming weeks.

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